[Al Arabiya Latest] A Qatari diplomat who sparked a national security scare by joking about setting fire to his shoe on an airplane will be released without charge, a U.S. law enforcement official told AFP on Thursday.
"It's expected that he's going to be turned over today to Qatari officials. I don't know if he's still with the FBI or if he's been turned over to the Qatari officials yet," the official said.
Mohammed al-Modadi, 27, the third secretary and vice consul of the Qatari embassy in Washington was confronted by air marshals late Wednesday after smoking a cigarette in an airplane bathroom and joked he was trying to ignite his shoe.
The source, who asked not to be named, said that even though smoking in airplane restrooms is a federal crime under U.S. law, the diplomat is not likely to be prosecuted.
"He has diplomatic immunity. If he was a U.S. citizen, that's a violation, but he does have diplomatic immunity," the official said. "Only a foreign government can lift the immunity."
U.S. air marshals subdued a Qatari diplomat on a flight to Denver on Thursday in a bomb scare triggered after he reportedly smoked a cigarette and joked he was trying to light his shoes, officials said.
There were no reports of an explosion on the plane, which landed safely at Denver International Airport from Washington's Reagan National Airport following the disturbance.
Law enforcement authorities initially notified key lawmakers that U.S. air marshals subdued the Qatari national, who had apparently sought to "ignite their (his) shoe" on the flight, a congressional aide told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Air marshals jumped in, and the cockpit wasn't breached," the official said. 
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